Phonograph attachment for clocks.



J. H. PEARSON. PHONOGBAPH ATTACHMENT FOB. CLOCKS. APPLICATION FILED APR,24,1913.

CLUE ME JEPMI'JM,

Witnesses Inventor by I I Attorneys J. H. PEARSON.

PHONOGHAPH ATTACHMENT FOB CLOCKS.

APPLIOATION FILED APB. 24,1913. 1,1 31,001. Patented Mar. 9, 1915.

2 BEBETHHEET 2.

lnv e ntor I I a Aftorneys UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES H. PEARSON, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF GNE-THIRD TO WILLIAM W. CARTER AND ONE-THIRD TO HARVEY L. DONEY, OF BLOOMFIELD, INDIANA.

PHONOGRAPH ATTACHMENT FOR CLOCKS.

Application filed April 24-, 1913.

all whom it may concern:

Boit known that I, JAMES H. PEARSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Phonographic Attachment for Clocks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to striking clocks of the graphophone type, one of the objects of the invention being to provide mechanism of simple, durable and compact construction whereby a carriage carrying a reproducer and a horn, can becaused to travel at pre- I determined intervals during which time the cylinder, disk or the like on which the an nouncements have been recorded, will be operated. v

A further object is to provide mechanism of this character which can be combined readily with the mechanism of clocks of different types now in use, the entire mechanism constituting the present invention being so proportion as to be readily housed within a casing'of ordinary proportions.

Another ob ect is to provide improved means for releasing and stopping the mechanism employed for operating the record and the carriage.

A further object is to provide means by which the carriage, upon reaching one limit of its movement, isreturned automatically to its initial position so that the intelligence recorded will be v repeated during successive operations of the mechanism.

A further object is to provide a novel form of governor for controlling the speed of rotation of the record, said governor being connected to the record operating mechanism in a novel manner to prevent the governor from coming to an abrupt stop when the record is stopped and, consequently, relieving the mechanism of the excessive strains which would otherwise be produced.

WVith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise emb dimentv of the invention herein disclosed, an be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 9, 1915.

Serial No. 763,406.

A B Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a section through a portion of the mechanism on the line CD Fig. 2. Fig. (3 is a section through a portion ofthe mechanism on the line E-F Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is an enlarged plan view of the worm wheel and of a portion of the wormengag-.

ing the same. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the revoluble portion of the governor. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the carriage. Fig. 10 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section through the connection between the horn and the reproducer. Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a portion of the controlling mechanism.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates a portion of the casing of the clock, and arranged therein is a frame 2 carrying the usual main spring 3 and the gear train indicated generally. at 4 for actuating the arbors 5 and 6 of the minute and hour hands respectively. Mounted in the frame is also a spring 7 adapted to actuate the striking train 9 which includes an arbor 10 extending rearwardly be yond the frame and journaled both in the frame 2 and within an upwardly extending Y-shaped end member 11 supported upon a rearwardly extending strip 12 fixedly con nected to the frame 2. The upper ends of the member 11 are connected to said frame 2 by parallel rods 13 and 14-. That portion of the arbor between frame 2 and the strip 11 carries a mandrel 15 on which is mounted a record 16 which, as shown, is in the formof a cylinder having recorded thereon. the intelligence to be reproduced, this intelligence being preferably in the form of successive sentences announcing the hour and the half hour or, if desired, the said sentences can announce solely the hour or, if preferred, the hour, the half hour and the uarter hour. In the structure illustrated t e mechanism is arranged to rotate the mandrel every half hour so that the hours and half hours will thus be announced.

The arbor 10 is provided, in addition to ,the large gear 16 with a small pinion 17 meshing with and adapted to rotate with a large gear 18 secured to an arbor 19. The arbor 19 and gear 18 rotate together and secured to the arbor 19 is a controlling disk 20 having diametrically opposed V-shaped' notches 21 the advancing edges of which are inclined in the direction of movement whilethe opposed edges of the notches are preferably radially disposed. This is clearly indicated in Fig. 5. Arbor 19 is also pro vided with a worm 22 constantly engaged by a worm gear 23 secured to the lower end portron of a vertical shaft or arbor 24 journaled in the frame 2, there being suitable brackets 25 and 26 provided for the lower and upper ends respectively of this arbor 24.' A small gear 27 is secured to the arbor 19 and receives motion from the train 9.

An arbor 28 is journaled in the upper portion of the frame 2 and extending from this arbor is an arm 29 having a laterally extending finger 30 which bears normally upon the periphery of disk 20, said finger usually being seated in one of the notches 21 so as thus to hold the disk 20 against rotation in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 5. Another arm 31 extends from the arbor 28 and extends back of and close to the large gear 16, said arm having a flattened end portion which is adapted to constitute an abutment for a pin 32 which extends rearwardly from the gear 16. T hus, while finger 30 is seated in one of the notches 21, pin 32 is bearing against the end of arm 31. An additional arm 33 extends radially from the arbor 28 and extending under this arm is a liftin fin ger 34 extending laterally from a radia arm 35 mounted on another arbor 36. This last named arbor has diverging arms 37 and 38, the arm 37 terminating in a finger 39 which extends back of the gear 16 and is adapted to move into the path of the pin 32. The other arm 38 has a curved flattened finger 40 extending close to the arbor 5 of the minute hand and extending from this arbor are oppositely disposed bowed tripping fingers 41. Two of these fingers are used where the clock is intended to announce the hours and the half hours. If it is only designed to announce the hours, only one finger 41 will be employed Whereas when an announcement is to be made every quarter hour, it is necessary to use four of these fingers 41.

A spring 42 may be connected to the arbor 36 so as to cause the same to rotate quickly to its initial position after it has once been tripped by a finger 41.

Meshing with the gear 16' is a small gear 43 secured to an arbor 44. This arbor projec'ts into a split sleeve 45 formed of spring metal. A hub 46 is arranged at one end of the sleeve and extending therefrom are oppositely arranged curved spring arms 47 to the outer ends of which are connected areu ate shoes 48. These shoes are adapted to roand thereby retard the rotation of the arbor.

Should the arbor be brought to a sudden stop, the sleeve 45 is free to rotate thereon to :1 slight extent under the momentum imparted thereto by the rotating shoes 48 and arms 47. Thus danger of injury to the mechanism as the result of sudden stopping is reduced materially.

Secured to the upper end of the vertical arbor 24 is a cam having a volute eriphery. said cam beingindicated at50. i.\...ever 51 is fulcrumed, as at 52, upon the frame 2 and extends across the top of the cam 50, this lever having a depending pin 53 which bears against the periphery of the cam. The free end of the lever is connected, by a rod 54, to a pin 55 upstanding from a sleeve 56, this sleeve being supported in an upstanding plate 57 constituting a portion of a carriage. A longitudinal strip 58 is fastened to or formed with the plate 57 and likewise constitutes a partof a carriage, the said carriage being indicated generally at 59. Guide sleeves 60 are provided at the ends of the strip 58 and are slightly mounted on the rod 14. A spring 61 is secured at one end to the plate 57 and at its other end to rod 14 close to the frame 2 and this spring presses the carriage 59 toward the strip 11 thus causing rod 54 to pull on lever 51, whereby pin 53 is constantly pressed against the periphery of the cam 50.

Fitted within one end of the sleeve 56 is the tubular stem 62 of a reproduc'er (13 such as commonly used in connection with phonographs, and connected to the other end of the sleeve 56 is a tube (it which is turned downwardlv and graduallv enlarged to form a born 5. The mouth of the horn is located d rectly above an opening ii in the bottom of the casing 1 and mounted on the bottom 01 the casing is a slide 7 having: an arm 38 extending therefrom. This arm is pivotally engaged by a crank arm (i9 extending from a rod '70 which is mounted for rotation in front of the clock casing and prov ded at ts front end with an index or pointer 71. Thus it wi l be soon that by turning the pointer in one direction. the crank arm (39 will caused to pull the slide t partly or entirely over the opening 66 while. by turning the point 71 in the opposite di ection. the opening 6 can be uncovered. Thus the volume of sound escaping from the casing can be controlled. The slide 67 is preferablv provided with an elongated bail or guide rod 72 the upper portion of which is parallcl with the rod 14. ,l-Vhen the slide ()7 is shifted so as to close the opening 66, this lines in Fig. 1, thus causing the carriage 59 to rotate on the rod 11- a snliicient distance to lift the stylus of the rcproducer out of contact with the record. Thus although the mechanism of the announcer may continue to operate. the stylus will be held out or contact with the record and no sound will be produced.

Secured to the rod 1 is a sleeve 72 from which extends a nude flange Tl terminating in a down ll turned spring iii 75. A pin 3 (f aids from the rei'iroducer and is ada ted. hen the ra r ajzo is moving in one direction, to travel under the flange Ti and against the spring linger Ta. thus pushing the finger upwardly out of the path of the pm. As soon as the pin paw. s

- the finger liOwtYtl. the end of the linger springs downwardlv so that. din-imp; the rtturn movement of the carriage, pin,76 will travel. onto the spring finger T5 and thus be elevated on the flange T l until the carriage reaches the other limit of its movement whereupon the pin 76 will move. 01f of the flange. During this movement of the pin along the flange Tl, the stylus of reproducer is supported out of contact with'the record but. as soon as the pin 76 passes oti' of the flange 74. the stylus drops onto the record and the apparatus thus becomes reset.

A brush 77 is preferablv mounted upon the strip 12 and is designed to keep the rec- 0rd clear of dust.

It is to be understood that a few minutes before the time when the announcing mechanism is to be operated. one of the fingers 41 mm es against the flattened finger 4-0 and gradually rotates the arbor 36 in the direc tion indicated by the arrow in Fig. 9 until finger Z34 lifts arm 33 a sullicient distance to remove finger 30 from the notch 21 in which it is seated. At the same time the end of arm 31 is lifted out of the path of the pin This movement of the arbor hi brings the end of the finger 39 into the path of the pin 32 so that, as soon as finger 30 is lifted out of notch 21 and arm 31 is lifted out of the path of pin 32, gear 16' is released and will rotate until the said pin 32 comes against the finger 39 whereupon the gear 16 will be brought to a stand. This rotation of gear '16 is effected from spring 7 through the gear train 9. gear 27, arbor l and pinion 17. The arbor 5 of the minute hand continues to rotate and as. soon as the hand indicates the time when the announcing; mechanism is to be operated, the finger ll moves past the end oi finger 40 whereupon spring 42 will promptly rotate arho" 30 back to its initial position. This will result in finger 39 shifting out of the path of pin 32 and, therefore, gear 10 will be free to continue its operation. Furthermore finger 30 will rest upon the'periphery of the disk 20 and as soon as the gear 16 completes its revolution, disk 20 will complete a one-half revo lution thus bringing one of the notches 21 under finger 30 and said finger will therefore drop into the notch and stop the op oration of the mechanism. arm 30 will be brought into the path of the pin 32. During the rotation of gear 16'. arbor 11) is rotated and as the worm 9-2 is formed on this arbor, it will rotate the vertical arbor :Zl through gear 23. This vertical arbor will rotate the cam 50 therewith and the periphery of the cam will push against the pin 53 and cause lever 51 to saving about its l'ulerum. Thus the lever uiil pull through rod 5i upon the carriage and against the action 01 the spring 61.

The parts are so proportioned that during the rotation of gear i l", the carriage Will be dra'avn a sullicient distance to enable the re producer to announce the ii'itelligence recorded on the record relative to the time indicated by the hands of the clock. arbor 10 has the mandrel 15 mounted upon it, it will of course be apparent that the record wi be rotated while the carriage is being shifted so that the information will thus be announced. Immediately upon the completion of the annoui'lccment. the mechanism is brought to a stop in the manner hereinbefore set for-1h, the par-ts being reset so as to be released and operated in the manner here inhefore described when the minute hand indicates the time at which the next announcement is to be made. As soon as the last announcement recorded on the cvlinder has been reproduced, the pin. 76, which has been traveling under the flange 74, passes the point of finger 75 and the pin 53 passes oil of the ouler cnd of the cam 50. Thus spring 61 t'rced and promptly shifts the arriage hack to its initial position. pin 76 traveling over linger 75 and liango 7-l' during this return movement so as to hold the stylus ot the rcproduror out oi? contact with the record during: such return movement.

'hat is claimed is?" 1. The con'ihination with power actuated mechanism ol a, rod. a carriage mounted to slide and rotate on the rod, a reproducer and a sound amplifier connected to the carriage, means operated by said mechanism for sliding the carriage in one direction, a guide member parallel with the rod and having a resilient depending end portion, means on the reproducer adapted to travel under said guide member to hold the reproducer in con-.-

tact with a record during the movement of the reproducer in one direction and to move out of contact with said depending end portion when the reproducer reaches one-end of the record in said means and the depending end portion of the guide member cooperating to lift the reproducer out of contact with the record during the movement of the reproducer in the opposite direction, and

At the same time means for automatically shifting the reproducer in the last named direction when released from the action of the means for sliding it.

2. The combination with a record support, and power actuated mechanism for driving the same, of a rod, a carriage mounted to slide and rotate upon the rod, a reproducer movable with the carriage and normally bearing upon the record, a guide having a resilient depending finger, means for shifting the carriage along the rod in one direction, means for automatically returning the carriage and reproducer to their initial position, and means upon the reproducer and movable under .the guide member during the moven'icnt of the carriage in one direction for holding the reproduoer in contact with the record, said last named means being adapted to push the finger upwardly out of its path during such movement, and to move over the depending finger and onto the guide member during the movement of the reproducer in the opposite direction for supporting said reproducer out of contact with the record.

The combination. with a carriage mounted to slide and rotate, a reproducer movable with the carriage, and a horn extending from the carriage, of a casing having an outlet opening, a slide for closing the opening, means for actuating the sljde, and means upon the slide for engagingthe horn to rotate the carriage when the slide is moved to closed position and move the reproducer out of operative position.

4. Thecombination with a guide member having a spring finger at one end thereof, said finger being downturned, of a carriage, a pin movable with the carriage and adapted, during the movement of the carriage in one direction, to ride under the guide and finger, said pin engaging the finger to lift the finger out of normal position and being movable past and out of contact with the finger, said pin being movable onto the finger and guide when the carriage is moved in the opposite direction, and means for moving the carriage back and forth'relatively to the guide, said guide and finger cooperating to hold the carriage in lowered position during its movement in one direction and to lift the carriage during its return movement.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES H. PEARSON.

\Vitncsses:

B. F. SAYLOR, M. E. SAYLOR. 

